But in practice the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law he'd like voters to potentially approve in November has a poor history of controlling government growth.

Two Republican state Senators are pushing a bill that would allow voters in counties that already have PTELL to fix it. The bill calls for voters to be given the power to lower their property taxes by limiting how much government units can tax them.

The problem is that since 1990 when Illinois started allowing counties to vote to impose property tax limits, counties with PTELL have seen their property taxes rise faster than counties without the limits. It seems to defy logic, but local governments may be taking their increases to the limit each year — a maximum of either 5 percent or the inflation rate, whichever is less.